Where did the endorphins go?

[fivemack]

I've recently been arranging to spend a good deal more time doing exercise: finding before Christmas that I weighed sixteen and a half stone was a bit of a surprise - I'd thought sort-of-fifteen-ish - and the people at the gym have asserted that, if I do exercises to strengthen my hip flexors, I'll find that my occasional mysterious knee pains will go away.

The first couple of bits of vigorous exercise - 45 minutes of circuit-training outside, 45 minutes of core-focused weight-training in the gym - were absolutely glorious fun; I left the circuit-training so fizzing with energy that I had difficulty working that afternoon, I left the weight-training feeling weirdly upright and amazingly light on my feet. I jog-walked (run for a count of sixty, walk for a count of sixty, repeat) round the block and, while my lungs were definitely not happy, my brain was delighted.

But this has now stopped. After the last couple of gym sessions and the last bout of circuit-training, instead of feeling invigorated, I was feeling completely knackered and distinctly glum. And I can't figure out what it might be that I'm doing differently. It's not that my asthma inhaler has some sort of weird invigorating power, I had to use a fair amount of Ventolin in the circuit-training.

Comments

[lnr]

I do not know - but I have to say I find the full on endorphin thing is a pretty rare hit for me too and only tends to be for exceptional effort which my body wasn't expecting - so perhaps it's an unfortunate side effect if being slightly fitter already? In which case Bum.

[rezendi.livejournal.com]

In my experience a short-term initial buzz followed by a medium-term dip in strength/mood is part of the process of upping the intensity of one's exercise. If my experience is anything to go by, in the long run it may/should moderate out to becoming something quite pleasant.

[stephdairy.livejournal.com]

My limited experience from twirling on the turbo is that the fitter I am the harder I have to work to get any kind of post-exercise emotional boost. I've never replicated the completely gaga feeling I had the first time I did it.

(S)

[hatam-soferet.livejournal.com]

Body learning curve?